Jose Corazon de Jesus

Known as the King of the Balagtasan and as Makata ng Puso, José Corazón de Jesús was born in Manila on November 22, 1896. He wrote Tagalog poetry during the American occupation of the Philippines (1901-1946).

His most famous work is the Tagalog poem Bayan Ko (My Country, 1929), which was used as lyrics for a patriotic song that became popular during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1980s. His pen name was Huseng Batute. He died on May 26, 1932, and is buried in Manila’s North Cemetery.